Latest revision as of 13:02, 20 May 2009

The Hague, December, 1922-February, 1923[These rules were never adopted by the powers concerned.]

CHAPTER I-Applicability: Classification and Marks.

ARTICLE I

THE RULES OF AERIAL warfare apply to all aircraft, whether lighter or
heavier than air, irrespective of whether they
are, or are not, capable
of floating on the water.

ARTICLE II

The following shall be deemed to be public aircraft:
a) Military aircraft.
b) Non-military aircraft
exclusively employed in the public service.

All other aircraft shall
be deemed to be private aircraft.

ARTICLE
III
A military aircraft shall bear an external mark indicating its
nation;
and military character.

ARTICLE IV
A
public non-military aircraft employed for customs or police
purposes
shall carry papers evidencing the fact that it is exclusively
employed in
the public service. Such an aircraft shall bear an external
mark indicating
its nationality and its public non-military
character.

ARTICLE V

Public non-military
aircraft other than those employed for customs
or police purposes shall in
time of war bear the same external marks, and
for the purposes of these
rules shall be treated on the same footing, as
private aircraft.

ARTICLE VI

Aircraft not comprised in Articles III and
IV and deemed to be private
aircraft shall carry such papers and bear such
external marks as are required
by the rules in force in their own country.
These marks must indicate their
nationality and character.

ARTICLE VII

The external marks required by the above
articles shall be so affixed
that they cannot be altered in flight. They
shall be as large as is practicable
and shall be visible from above, from
below and from each side.

ARTICLE VIII

The
external marks, prescribed by the rules in force in each State, shall
be
notified promptly to all other Powers.

Modifications adopted in
time of peace of the rules prescribing external
marks shall be notified to
all other Powers before they are brought into
force.

Modifications
of such rules adopted at the outbreak of war or during
hostilities shall be
notified by each Power as soon as possible to all other
Powers and at
latest when they are communicated to their own fighting forces.

ARTICLE IX

A belligerent non-military aircraft,
whether public or private, may
be converted into a military aircraft,
provided that the conversion is effected
within the jurisdiction of the
belligerent State to which the aircraft belongs
and not on the high
seas.

ARTICLE X

No aircraft may possess more
than one nationality.

CHAPTER II-General Principles.

ARTICLE XI

Outside the
jurisdiction of any State, belligerent or neutral, all aircraft
shall have
full freedom of passage through-the air and of alighting.

ARTICLE XII

In time of war any State, whether
belligerent or neutral, may forbid
or regulate the entrance, movement or
sojourn of aircraft within its jurisdiction.

CHAPTER III- Belligerents.

ARTICLE XIII

Military aircraft are alone entitled to exercise belligerent
rights.

ARTICLE XIV

A military aircraft shall
be under the command of a person duly commissioned
or enlisted in the
military service of the State; the crew must be
exclusively
military.

ARTICLE XV

Members of
the crew of a military aircraft shall wear a fixed distinctive
emblem of
such character as to be recognizable at a distance in case they
become
separated from their aircraft.

ARTICLE XVI

No
aircraft other than a belligerent military aircraft shall engage
in
hostilities in any form.

The term "hostilities"
includes the transmission during flight
of military intelligence for the
immediate use of a belligerent.

No private aircraft, when outside
the jurisdiction of its own country,
shall be armed in time of war.

ARTICLE XVII

The principles laid down in the Geneva
Convention, 1906, and the Convention
for the adaptation of the said
Convention to Maritime War (No. X of 1907)
shall apply to aerial warfare
and to flying ambulances, as well as to the
control over flying ambulances
exercised by a belligerent commanding officer.

In order to enjoy
the protection and privileges allowed to mobile medical
units by the Geneva
Convention, 1906, flying ambulances must bear the distinctive
emblem of the
Red Cross in addition to the usual distinguishing marks.

CHAPTER IV - Hostilities.

ARTICLE XVIII

The use of tracer, incendiary, or
explosive projectiles by or against
air, is not prohibited.

This
provision applies equally to States which are parties to the Declaration
of
St. Petersburg, 1868, and to those which are not.

ARTICLE XIX

The use of false external marks is
forbidden.

ARTICLE XX

When an aircraft has
been disabled, the occupants when endeavoring to
escape by means of
parachute must not be attacked in the course of their
descent.

ARTICLE XXI

The use of aircraft for the purpose of
disseminating propaganda shall
not be treated as an illegitimate means of
warfare. Members of the crews
of such aircraft must not be deprived of
their rights as prisoners of war
on the charge that they have committed
such an act.

ARTICLE XXII

Aerial bombardment
for the purpose of terrorizing the civilian population,
of destroying or
damaging private property not of a military character,
or of injuring
non-combatants is prohibited.

ARTICLE XXIII

Aerial bombardment for the purpose of enforcing compliance
with requisitions
in kind or payment of contributions in money is
prohibited.

ARTICLE XXIV

1 ) Aerial
bombardment is legitimate only when directed at a military
objective, that
is to say, an object of which the destruction or injury
would constitute a
distinct military advantage to the belligerent.

2) Such bombardment
is legitimate only when directed exclusively at the
following objectives:
military forces; military works; military establishments
or depots;
factories constituting important and well-known centres engaged
in the
manufacture of arms, ammunition, or distinctively military supplies;
lines
of communication or transportation used for military purposes.

3)
The bombardment of cities, towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings
not in
the immediate neighborhood of the operations of land forces is
prohibited.
In cases where the objectives specified in paragraph 2 are so
situated,
that they cannot be bombarded without the indiscriminate
bombardment of the civilian
population, the aircraft must abstain from
bombardment.

4) In the immediate neighborhood of the operations of
land forces, the
bombardment of cities, towns, villages, dwellings, or
buildings is legitimate
provided that there exists a reasonable presumption
that the military concentration
is sufficiently important to justify such
bombardment, having regard to
the danger thus caused to the civilian
population.

5) A belligerent State is liable to pay compensation
for injuries to
person or to property caused by the violation by any of its
officers or
forces of the provisions of this article.

ARTICLE XXV

In bombardment by aircraft all necessary
steps must be taken by the commander
to spare as far as possible buildings
dedicated to public worship, art,
science, or charitable purposes, historic
monuments, hospital ships, hospitals,
and other places where the sick and
wounded are collected, provided such
buildings, objects or places are not
at the time used for military purposes.
Such buildings, objects and places
must by day be indicated by marks visible
to aircraft. The use of marks to
indicate other buildings, objects or places
than those specified above is
to be deemed an act of perfidy. The marks
used as aforesaid shall be in the
case of buildings protected under the
Geneva Convention the red cross on a
white ground, and in the case of other
protected buildings a large
rectangular panel divided diagonally into two
pointed [sic]
triangular portions, one black and the other white.

A belligerent who desires to secure by night the protection for the
hospitals
and other privileged buildings above mentioned must take the
necessary measures
to render the special signs referred to sufficiently
visible.

ARTICLE XXVI

The following special
rules are adopted for the purpose of enabling States
to obtain more
efficient protection for important historic monuments situated
within their
territory, provided that they are willing to refrain from the
use of such
monuments and a surrounding zone for military purposes, and
to accept a
special regime for their inspection.

1) A State shall be entitled,
if it sees fit, to establish a zone of
protection round such monuments
situated in its territory. Such zones shall
in time of war enjoy immunity
from bombardment.

2) The monuments round which a zone is
established shall be notified
to other Powers in peace time through the
diplomatic channel; the notification
shall also indicate the limits of the
zones. The notification may not be
withdrawn in time of war.

3) The
zone of protection may include, in addition to the area actually
occupied
by the monument or group of monuments, an outer zone, not exceeding
500
meters in width, measured from the circumference of the said
area.

4) Marks clearly visible from aircraft either by day or by
night will
be employed for the purpose of ensuring the identification by
belligerent
airmen of the limits of the zones.

5 ) The marks on the
monuments themselves will be those defined in Article
XXV. The marks
employed for indicating the surrounding zones will be fixed
by each State
adopting the provisions of this article, and will be notified
to other
Powers at the same time as the monuments and zones are notified.

6)
Any abusive use of the marks indicating the zones referred to in
paragraph
5 will be regarded as an act of perfidy.

7) A State
adopting the provisions of this article must abstain from
using the
monument and the surrounding zone for military purposes, or for
the benefit
in any way whatever of its military organization, or from committing
within
such monument or zone any act with a military purpose in view.

8 )
An inspection committee consisting of three neutral
representatives
accredited to the State adopting the provisions of this
article, or their
delegates, shall be appointed for the purpose of ensuring
that no violation
is committed of the provisions of paragraph 7. One of the
members of the
committee of inspection shall be the representative (or his
delegate) of
the State to which has been entrusted the interests of the
opposing belligerent.

ARTICLE XXVII

Any person
on board a belligerent or neutral aircraft is to be deemed
a spy only if
acting clandestinely or on false presences he obtains or seeks
to obtain,
while in the air, information within belligerent jurisdiction
or in the
zone of operations of a belligerent with the intention of communicating
it
to the hostile party.

ARTICLE XXVIII

Acts of
espionage committed after leaving the aircraft by members of
the crew of an
aircraft or by passengers transported by it are subject to
the provisions
of the Land Warfare Regulations.

ARTICLE XXIX

Punishment of the acts of espionage referred to in Articles XXVII and
XXVI
II is subject to Articles XXX and XXXI of the Land Warfare
Regulations.

CHAPTER V-Military Authority Over
Enemy and Neutral Aircraft
and Persons on Board.

ARTICLE XXX

In case a belligerent commanding officer
considers that the presence
of aircraft is likely to prejudice the success
of the operations in which
he is engaged at the moment, he may
prohibit the passing of neutral aircraft
in the immediate vicinity of the
forces or may oblige them to follow a particular
route. A neutral aircraft
which does not conform to such directions, of
which it has had notice
issued by the belligerent commanding officer, may
be fired upon.

ARTICLE XXXI

In accordance with the principles of
Article LIII of the Land Warfare
Regulations, neutral private aircraft
found upon entry in the enemy's jurisdiction
by a belligerent occupying
force may be requisitioned, subject to the payment
of full
compensation.

ARTICLE XXXII

Enemy public
aircraft, other than those treated on the same footing private
aircraft,
shall be subject to confiscation without prize proceedings.

ARTICLE XXXIII

Belligerent non-military aircraft,
whether public or private, flying
within the jurisdiction of their own
State, are liable to be fired upon
unless they make the nearest available
landing on the approach of enemy
military aircraft.

ARTICLE XXXIV

Belligerent non-military aircraft,
whether public or private, are
liable to be fired upon, if they fly (1)
within the jurisdiction of the
enemy, or (2) in the immediate vicinity
thereof and outside the jurisdiction
of their own State, or (3) in the
immediate vicinity of the military operations
of the enemy by land or
sea.

ARTICLE XXXV

Neutral aircraft flying
within the jurisdiction of a belligerent, and
warned of the approach of
military aircraft of the opposing belligerent,
must make the nearest
available landing. Failure to do so exposes them to
the risk of being fired
upon.

ARTICLE XXXVI

When an enemy military
aircraft falls into the hands of a belligerent,
the members of the crew and
the passengers, if any, may be made prisoners
of war.

The same rule
applies to the members of the crew and the passengers,
if any, of an enemy
public non-military aircraft, except that in the
case of public
non-military aircraft devoted exclusively to the transport
of
passengers, the passengers will be entitled to be released unless they
are
in the service of the enemy, or are enemy nationals fit for
military
service.

If an enemy private aircraft falls into the hands
of a belligerent, members
of the crew who are enemy nationals, or who are
neutral nationals in the
service of the enemy, may be made prisoners of
war. Neutral members of the
crew, who are not in the service of the enemy
are entitled to be released
if they sign a written undertaking not to serve
in any enemy aircraft while
hostilities last. Passengers are entitled to be
released unless they are
in the service of the enemy or are enemy nationals
fit for military service,
in which cases they may be made prisoners of
war.

Release may in any case be delayed if the military interests
of the belligerents
so require.

The belligerent may hold as
prisoners of war any member of the crew or
any passenger whose service in a
flight at the close of which he has been
captured has been of special and
active assistance to the enemy.

The names of individuals released
after giving a written undertaking
in accordance with the third paragraph.
of this article will be notified
to the opposing belligerent, who must not
knowingly employ them in violation
of their undertaking.

ARTICLE XXXVII

Members of the crew of a neutral
aircraft which has been detained by
a belligerent shall be released
unconditionally, if they are neutral nationals
and not in the service of
the enemy. If they are enemy nationals or in the
service of the enemy, they
may be made prisoners of war.

Passengers are entitled to be
released unless they are in the service
of the enemy or are enemy nationals
fit for military service, in which cases
they may be made prisoners of
war.

Release may in any case be delayed if the military interests
of the belligerent
so require.

The belligerent may hold as
prisoners of war any member of the crew or
any passenger whose service in a
flight at the close of which he has been
captured has been of special and
active assistance to the enemy.

ARTICLE XXXVIII

Where under the - provisions of Articles XXXVI and
XXXVII it is provided
that members of the crew or passengers may be made
prisoners of war, it
is to be understood that, if they are not members of
the armed forces, they
shall be entitled to treatment not less favorable
than that accorded to
prisoners of war.

Belligerent aircraft are bound to respect the rights of
neutral Powers
and to abstain within the jurisdiction of a neutral State
from the commission
of any act which it is the duty of that State to
prevent.

ARTICLE XL

Belligerent military
aircraft are forbidden to enter the jurisdiction
of a neutral State.

ARTICLE XLI

Aircraft on board vessels of war,
including aircraft-carriers, shall
be regarded as part of such
vessels.

ARTICLE XLII

A neutral government
must use the means at its disposal to prevent the
entry within its
jurisdiction of belligerent military aircraft and to compel
them to alight
if they have entered such jurisdiction.

A neutral government shall
use the means at its disposal to intern any
belligerent military aircraft
which is within its jurisdiction after having
alighted for any reason
whatsoever, together with its crew and the passengers,
if any.

ARTICLE XLIII

The personnel of a disabled belligerent
military aircraft rescued outside
neutral waters and brought into the
jurisdiction of a neutral State by a
neutral military aircraft and there
landed shall be interned.

ARTICLE XLIV

The
supply in any manner, directly or indirectly, by a neutral government
to a
belligerent Power of aircraft, parts of aircraft, or material, supplies
or
munitions required for aircraft is forbidden.

ARTICLE XLV

Subject to the provisions of Article XLVI, a neutral Power is
not bound
to prevent the export or transit on behalf of a belligerent of
aircraft,
parts of aircraft, or material, supplies or munitions for
aircraft.

ARTICLE XLVI

A neutral government is
bound to use the means at its disposal:

1) to prevent the departure
from its jurisdiction of an aircraft in a
condition to make a hostile
attack against a belligerent Power, or carrying
or accompanied by
appliances or materials the mounting or utilisation of
which would enable
it to make a hostile attack, if there is reason to believe
that such
aircraft is destined for use against a belligerent Power.

2) to
prevent the departure of an aircraft the crew of which includes
any member
of the combatant forces of a belligerent Power.

3) to prevent work
upon an aircraft designed to prepare it to depart
in contravention of the
purpose of this article.

On the departure by air of any aircraft
despatched by persons or companies
in neutral jurisdiction to the order of
a belligerent Power, the neutral
government must prescribe for such
aircraft a route avoiding the neighbourhood
of the military operations of
the opposing belligerent, and must exact whatever
guarantees may be
required to ensure that the aircraft follows the route
prescribed.

ARTICLE XLVII

A neutral State is bound to take such
steps as the means at its disposal
permit to prevent within its
jurisdiction aerial observation of the movements,
operations or defences of
one belligerent, with the intention of informing
the other
belligerent.

This provision applies equally to a belligerent
military aircraft on
board a vessel of war.

ARTICLE XLVIII

The action of a neutral Power in using force or other means
at its disposal
in the exercise of its lights or duties under these rules
cannot be regarded
as a hostile act.

CHAPTER VII-Visit and Search, Capture and Condemnation

ARTICLE XLIX

Private aircraft are liable to visit and
search and to capture by belligerent
military aircraft.

ARTICLE L
Belligerent military aircraft have the right
to order public non-military
and private aircraft to alight in or
proceed for visit and search to a suitable
locality reasonably
accessible.

Refusal, after warning, to obey such orders to alight
or to proceed to
such a locality for examination exposes an aircraft to the
risk of being
fired upon.

ARTICLE LI

Neutral
public non-military aircraft, other than those which are
to be treated
as private aircraft, are subject only to visit for the purpose
of the
verification of their papers.

ARTICLE LII

Enemy private aircraft are liable to capture in all
circumstances.

ARTICLE LIII

A neutral private
aircraft is liable to capture if it:
a) resists the legitimate
exercise of belligerent rights;
b) violates a prohibition of which it
has had notice issued by a belligerent
commanding officer under Article
XXX;
c) is engaged in unneutral service; country;
d) is armed in
time of war when outside the jurisdiction of its own
e ) has no
external marks or uses false marks;
f ) has no papers or insufficient
or irregular papers;
g) is manifestly out of line between the point of
departure and the point
of destination indicated in its papers and, after
such enquiries as the
belligerent may deem necessary, no good cause is
shown for the deviation.
The aircraft, together with its crew and
passengers, if any, may be detained
by the belligerent, pending such
enquiries;
h) carries, or itself constitutes, contraband of war;
i) is engaged in breach of a blockade duly established and effectivly
maintained;
k) has been transferred from belligerent to neutral
nationality at a date
and in circumstances indicating an intention of
evading the consequences
to which an enemy aircraft, as such, is
exposed.

Provided that in each case, except (k), the ground for
capture shall
be an act carried out in the flight in which the neutral
aircraft came into
belligerent hands, i.e., since it left its point of
departure and before
it reached its point of destination.

ARTICLE LIV

The papers of a private aircraft will be
regarded as insufficient or
irregular if they do not establish the
nationality of the aircraft and indicate
the names and nationality of the
crew and passengers, the points of departure
and destination of the flight,
together with particulars of the cargo and
the conditions under which it is
transported. The logs must also be included.

ARTICLE LV

Capture of an aircraft or of goods on board an aircraft shall be
made
the subject of prize proceedings, in order that any neutral claim may
be
duly heard and determined.

ARTICLE LVI

A
private aircraft captured upon the ground that it has no external marks
or
is using false marks, or that it is armed in time of war outside
the
jurisdiction of its own country, is liable to condemnation.

A
neutral private aircraft captured upon the ground that it has
disregarded
the direction of a belligerent commanding officer under Article
XXX is liable
to condemnation, unless it can justify its presence within
the prohibited
zone.

In all other cases, the prize court in
adjudicating upon any case of
capture of an aircraft or its cargo, or of
postal correspondence on board
an aircraft, shall apply the same rules as
would be applied to a merchant
vessel or its cargo or to postal
correspondence on board a merchant vessel.

ARTICLE LVII

Private aircraft which are found upon visit and search to be
enemy aircraft
may be destroyed if the belligerent commanding officer finds
it necessary
to do so, provided that all persons on board have first been
placed in safety
and all the papers of the aircraft have been
preserved.

ARTICLE LVIII

Private aircraft
which are found upon visit and search to be neutral
aircraft liable to
condemnation upon the ground of unneutral service, or
upon the ground that
they have no external marks or are bearing false marks,
may be destroyed,
if sending them in for adjudication would be impossible
or would imperil
the safety of the belligerent aircraft or the success of
the operations in
which it is engaged. Apart from the cases mentioned above,
a neutral
private aircraft must not be destroyed except in the gravest
military
emergency, which would not justify the officer in command in
releasing it
or sending it in for adjudication.

ARTICLE LIX

Before a neutral private aircraft is
destroyed, all persons on board
must be placed in safety, and all the
papers of the aircraft must be preserved.

A captor who has
destroyed a neutral private aircraft must bring the
capture before the
prize court, and must first establish that he was justified
in destroying
it under Article LVIII. If he fails to do this, parties interested
in the
aircraft or its cargo are entitled to compensation. If the capture
is held
to be invalid, though the act of destruction is held to have
been
justifiable, compensation must be paid to the parties interested in
place
of the restitution to which they would have been entitled.

ARTICLE LX

Where a neutral private aircraft is
captured on the ground that it is
carrying contraband, the captor may
demand the surrender of any absolute
contraband on board, or may proceed to
the destruction of such absolute
contraband, if sending in the
aircraft for adjudication is impossible
or would imperil the safety of the
belligerent aircraft or the success of
the operations in which it is
engaged. After entering in the log book of
the aircraft the delivery or
destruction of the goods, and securing, in
original or copy, the relevant
papers of the aircraft, the captor must allow
the neutral aircraft to
continue its flight.

The provisions of the second paragraph of
Article LIX will apply where
absolute contraband on board a neutral private
aircraft is handed over or
destroyed.

CHAPTER VIII-Definitions.

ARTICLE LXI

The term
"military" throughout these rules is to be read as
referring to
all branches of the forces, i.e., the land forces, the naval
forces, and
the air forces.

ARTICLE LXII

Except so far as
special rules are here laid down, and except also so
far as the provisions
of Chapter VII of these Rules or international conventions
indicate that
maritime. law and procedure are applicable, aircraft personnel
engaged in
hostilities come under the laws of war and neutrality applicable
to land
troops in virtue of the custom and practice of international law
and of the
various declarations and conventions to which the States concerned
are
parties.